Gypsy Cruising

14 - 16 August

Pioneer Bay, Orpheus Island

Three days spent at anchor on Orpheus Island.

Most islands have some sort of hill that can be climbed, and Pioneer Bay provided the goods in that respect.  I don’t think we knew what we were going to see when the whole fleet started out on this walk.  The track we followed was very patchy in places, by which I mean we had to keep our own bearings when walking through long grass to ensure we could find our way back.

The whole gang on their way up the hill with Pioneer Bay in the background.  The Gypsy is the third anchored boat from the left

 

We found this echidna on the track part way up the hill

The view looking over the other side of the island

Me (and Leon) at the top of the hill

James Cook University operates a marine research station in the bay next to us.  A dozen or more years ago a student studying for his PhD introduced a whole lot of giant clams to the shallows off the beach (we know it was a "he” because Sonia and David met him on Magnetic Island last week).  The clams ended up thriving in the conditions, to the point where there are now apparently over 3,000 of them.  They’re so tightly packed in places that some are simply starving to death.  After coming down from the walk we all dinghied over and paddled around clam spotting for as long as the tide allowed.

One of the very many giant clams, seen from a dinghy simply drifting over the site.  Some of the clams' colours were extraordinary blues and greens.

All of us paddling over the giant clams

We’d been trying to contact the research station to arrange an impromptu tour, but without success.  In response, Leon organised us into a dinghy invasion force and we descended en mass and without any warning on the beach in front of the station.  The duty manager initially told us to come back tomorrow, but very shortly came back and led us around the station personally.  He proved to be a lovely guy who had once studied there but now enjoyed the location more for its diving opportunities.

The station hosts both serious research scientists and school groups, being able to cater for up to 60 guests.  It seems to provide a one stop shop for lots of different purposes.  Probably its most popular feature for us was the large aquarium pool that seems to be the final resting place for many of the fish and coral subject to studies.

The now obligatory group-photo-behind-a-sign shot.  Bad boy Leon is forced to stand downwind on his own.

A shot of the research station

Part of the research facilities available at the station

The display aquarium at the station.  Isn't it wonderful to have a ready supply of perfect water only a few feet away, rather than having to build complicated filtration and other water treatment systems.

That night I got to hear from James the words that I’d been dreading since before the cruise started: “Is the toilet switched on?” when I knew the toilet was switched on.  What he was really asking was “why isn’t the toilet working?” 

I have lots of spare parts on board for many of the boat’s systems.  However, I’d always figured that by having two toilets I already had built in resilience to any failure.  If one toilet now was not working then I was immediately in the position of having no further backup, a couple of weeks before I was due back in port.  So, a deep breath and then I was into toilet fixing mode.  I checked the other toilet, which worked, so confirming the circuit breaker was ok.  I had either an electrical problem (they’re electric toilets) or a mechanical problem.  I started thinking about what I’d pull apart first if it was the latter, but my first act was to check all the wiring.  Very happily for me, I found a corroded terminal fitting almost immediately and within 20 minutes everything was back in operation.  Wonderful.

Not a happy sailor - at this point I still hadn't identified the problem

Our third day at Orpheus proved to be overcast, windy and cool.  No-one wanted to be outside so we all met up on Galadriel for a shared BBQ lunch and an afternoon spent playing a tile game (think Scrabble tiles) called Rummy-O.  A very pleasant way to spend our time, resulting in no need for dinner tonight.

The weather looks good for a departure tomorrow.